List Of Opposition Leaders To Attend, Skip Karnataka CM-Elect Siddaramaiah's Swearing-In

Karnataka Chief Minister-elect Siddaramaiah will take oath at 12.30 pm Saturday in Bengaluru, while Congress state unit president DK Shivakumar will take oath as Deputy CM.

New Delhi: Karnataka Chief Minister-elect Siddaramaiah will take oath on Saturday in Bengaluru, while Congress state unit president DK Shivakumar will assume the role of deputy CM. Some ministers are also like to be sworn in at the ceremony scheduled to start at 12.30 pm. Congress scored an emphatic win by winning 135 seats in the May 10 Karnataka Assembly Elections. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has invited leaders from like-minded parties to participate in the event tomorrow. The Congress is trying to give a message to the BJP about opposition unity by sending invitations to top leaders of opposition parties.

Oppn Leaders Who're Attending Siddaramaiah's Oath Taking

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin is scheduled to leave for Bengaluru on Friday evening to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Siddaramaiah as the Karnataka Chief Minister, news agency PTI quoted sources as saying.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav will go to Bengaluru for the swearing-in ceremony of the new Congress government in Karnataka on Saturday.

#WATCH | Darbhanga, Bihar: "They (Congress) had a massive win (in Karnataka). I am in contact with the CM designate, he and Congress President also invited me to the swearing-in ceremony, so I told them that I will come...if opposition parties come together that will be in the… pic.twitter.com/ucN9II6i5b

— ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2023

Mamata Banerjee To Skip Karnataka CM's Oath Taking

West Bengal CM and TMC Supremo Mamata Banerjee will skip Siddaramaiah's oath-taking ceremony. She has sent Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, a TMC leader, to represent her at the event, news agency PTI quoted a TMC leader as saying.

The TMC chief’s attendance at the event was seen as important for opposition unity, especially after she said that her party will back Congress where it is strong in the 2024 general elections.

LDF Slams Congress For Not Inviting Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan

Kerala's ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) on Friday slammed the Congress for not inviting Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan to the oath-taking ceremony of Siddaramaiah as Karnataka’s CM. It said that this shows the Congress’ immature politics and weakness. M K Stalin, the CM of Tamil Nadu and others have been invited and will go to the event on May 20 in Bengaluru.

Invitees For Karnataka CM Swearing In Ceremony

News agency ANI quoting sources said that Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee are among the invitees for the oath-taking ceremony. Other opposition parties and leaders such as CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechuri, Shiv Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar. Invitations have also been sent to J&K National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik. 

The Gandhi family members - Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra - will attend the event too. CMs of states ruled by Congress, such as Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu of Himachal, Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan and Bhupesh Baghel of Chhattisgarh, will also be there.

The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) on Friday criticised the Congress for not inviting Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to the swearing-in ceremony of Siddaramaiah as Karnataka's CM, saying the move shows up the grand old party's immature politics and weakness.

Congress's move has proved that it cannot carry out the mission of bringing together the secular democratic forces of the country against the BJP's "fascist" politics, LDF Convenor E P Jayarajan said.